List of most popular live singers (all time)

Leonard Norman Cohen (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, painter, poet, and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen has been indu...

Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He began performing in a group covering Shadows instrumentals in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded t...

Prince Roger Nelson (born June 7, 1958), known by his mononym Prince, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor.

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin's church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on...

W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr. ; raised as William Bruce Bailey February 6, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' R...

Johnny "J.R." Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and author. Although primarily remembered as a country music icon, his genre-spanning songs and sound embraced rock...

William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian virtuoso guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer, best known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects o...

David Jon Gilmour (born 6 March 1946) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he is best known for his work as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the progre...

Eric Patrick Clapton (born 30 March 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the...

David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. In 2007, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Roth is best known as the original (1974–1...

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), professionally known as Ray Charles, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and composer. He was sometimes referred to as "The Genius", and was also nicknamed "The H...

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer and dancer. The founding father of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century popular music and dance, he is often referred to as "The Godfather of Sou...

David Bowie (born David Robert Jones, 8 January 1947) was an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, painter, and actor.

Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott "Scottie" Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a followin...

Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.

Jared Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and director.

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. He has worked as a composer for movies and musicals and has acted in supporting roles in films, including Paradise Alley and Br...

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter.

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, artist and writer.

Eddie Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson December 23, 1964) is an American musician who is best known for being the lead vocalist and one of three guitarists of the grunge band Pearl Jam...

Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Mission, British Columbia currently based in Vancouver. In 2007, she placed third in Canadian Idol season five's competition. Jepsen independently...

Sydney Bennett, known by her stage name as Syd tha Kyd or more recently Syd is a singer, producer and DJ from Crenshaw, Los Angeles, California. She was one of the main producers in Odd Future and a singer, producer and mixer in t...

Christopher Francis Ocean, is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. Ocean started his career as a ghostwriter for artists such as John Legend, Justin Bieber, and Brandy. In 2010, he became a member of alternative hip hop coll...

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977) is a Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer, and model. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she began performing in school, demonstrating Latin, Arab...

Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late...

Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress, singer, and director. Larson began her career as a teenage actress. On television, she was a series regular on the 20...

Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding (born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and multi-instrumentalist. Her career began when she met record producer Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who later b...

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo from 1976 to 1995, and later for scori...

Anita Mui Yim-fong (10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress. Mui once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of Asia (東方麥當娜)" and brought her to fu...

Danny Chan Kwok-kwan (born 1 August 1975) is a Hong Kong actor, dance choreographer, and lead singer of the rock band Poet. He is known for resembling Bruce Lee in appearance, and has portrayed Lee in the 2008 television series Th...

Takeshi Kaneshiro (Japanese, Okinawan and Chinese: 金城 武, romaji: Kaneshiro Takeshi, Pinyin: Jīnchéng Wǔ, born October 11, 1973) is a Taiwanese-Japanese actor and singer.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai (born 27 June 1962) is a Hong Kong actor and C-pop singer. He was the winner of Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor for his role in Wong Kar-wai's film In the Mood for Love. Leung is also a seven-time winner of...

Datuk Jackie Chan (born Chan Kong-sang, 陳港生; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, stuntman, and singer. Chan has been training in Kung fu and Wing Chun. He has been acting since the 1960s an...

Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is an American actor, producer and singer. His career began on the Off-Broadway stage and then in television in the 1980s, most notably as David Addison in Moonlighting (1985–89). He is pe...

Édith Piaf (19 December 1915 – 10 October 1963; born Édith Giovanna Gassion) was a French cabaret singer, songwriter and actress. Her music was often autobiographical with her singing reflecting her life, with her specialty being...

William "Bill" Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor, singer, author, producer, director, spokesman, and comedian. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, Captain of the...

Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, film director, producer, musician, and singer. He has won two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Emmy Award, and has been nominated for three BAFT...

Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), better known by his stage name, Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut...

Gwen Renée Stefani ( born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. She is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band No Doubt. During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on her solo...

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed (March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, and his solo career spanned several de...